Keep on Making it Happen

I had only planned on running our “Make it Happen Mondays” feature for the month of January….but every week is a great time to Make it Happen, right? I received a whole lot of positive feedback on our Monday feature, so I’ve decided to keep on Making it Happen.

One year ago yesterday, the very first post went up on Loving the Bike. I had a few goals in mind for the year (both personal and for the site) and set off last February 6th to make them all happen. A year later and here I am realizing that I reached them all….and then some.

More than anything, I wanted to use the blog as a means to get more involved with the world cycling scene, meet and share with like minded people, and have a creative outlet that would feed my passion for the bike. Through this blog, so many incredible things have already happened…and I’ve really just started to get my feet wet. Thanks to all of you for helping to make it happen.

My biggest personal goal was to make it to the promise land. Last February I was in the middle of my third Canadian winter and knew that, for me, the biggest mission was to find my way out of there. As I explained in my “Promise Land” post last February, I had really thought we’d be making the move to Grenada or Belize. That could still very well happen, but all the right pieces weren’t in place just yet. A brainstorming session last May with my wife turned our attention to Austin, Texas…..and the bending of the universe followed soon after. We now had a goal and we set out to Make it Happen.

Within 6 weeks we had locked down most of the ingredients to make this a reality, and a couple weeks after that we were set for our move. To be honest, I’m not sure that Austin is the final destination, but it sure does make a great Promise Land right now….and I’d be more than stoked to make this city my final resting place.

Without getting all motivationy on you, I can tell you this. When you create a goal, get excited about it, and set off to make it happen…..absolutely anything and everything is possible. That goes for your life, your cycling, your destiny. Go on now….Make It Happen.

You must have known that I would love this post! Set your goals, and go for them. I’m so happy you exceeded last years targets because I have a feeling this year is going to exceed even your wildest dreams.
If you Keep the Rubber Side Down, anything is possible.

I am, without a doubt, a believer in setting a goal and then not letting anything stand in the way of making it happen. There is some skill in setting a goal that is a stretch but is still achievable. My experience has been that people more often than not set goals that are too easy. They dont push themselves outside of the comfort zone and stretch themselves. I don’t think that is the case for you guys though :).

Pamela (my wife) and I set some goals 5 years ago that most people would have said were not only difficult but simply impossible. And five years later we have hit nearly every one of them. And our life is the richer for it (and I don’t meant financially).

I have not been as present in the online world last month because of my work obligations as I would have liked. However, I sense a groundswell around lovingthebike and some really good people associating with you, like Jim who commented below, that may be the start of some really wonderful things for you and your family.

Here is one island boy hoping that Austin does in fact become the permanent home of the loving thebike clan

I guess it really is no secret is it, Eric? I hear about this kind of thing all the time. Me and Amanda did the same thing about a year and a half ago and when we sat down and looked at our list a few months ago, we realized that almost everything on the list had materialized. We just made a new set of goals a couple months ago. Make it Happen.

Yeah man, it was my conversation with you that pushed me into making “Make it Happen Mondays” a regular feature over here at Loving the Bike. Thanks for being my cheerleader and motivator, and for helping me make things happen.

My question is other than juice, can you suggest modifications in lieu of table sugar for energy and hydration.

Answer:

Both raw/organic honey or agave can work great in the homebrew (substitute in the same quantities for the sugar, or to taste), but you do have to shake well in order to make sure they don’t settle out. Have you tried either of these? Also, make sure to use at least the minimum amount of salt recommended in the homebrew as the temps rise, you need the sodium replacement if you’re sweating.